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The Truth Will Out
Autobot City - Repair Bay This is the main repair bay for the Autobots. Several operating tables lie in a row here, and a long bench lines one wall. On the bench are assorted tools used in repairing damaged Transformers. Scattered throughout the room are various repair bots, awaiting the arrival of more wounded to repair. The room gives you the perception of being immaculately clean, not a tool out of place. On the left side of the operating arena are wide sliding doors that open into the recovery ward. Less frantic than the busy repair bay, it consists of two rows of immaculate beds on opposite walls for those needing peace and quiet to rest and recover from their repairs. The sounds of quiet conversations between medic and patient, or between visitor and patient, are about all that disturb the quiet. Contents: Swoop Red Alert Sky and Lynx Unit Bitbucket Medical Barracks Supply Closet Gumby Medic Obvious exits: Doors leads to Main Lobby - First Floor. Doors leads to Lounge/Observation Room. Shaft Downward leads to AC Training Chamber. Sky unit was fully repaired now and was resting, while the Lynx half was awake, just laying there however with no real reason to waste any energy. Foxfire has arrived. Swoop is just laying on one of the tables, looking like crap, basically. He doesn't have much of his wings left, and the beast head on his chest is practically non-existent at this point. Yay. That's what Grimlock is saying as he tromps on into the medical bay. "Stupids Foxfire get stupid fox song stuck in me Grimlock head! Grr!" he bangs on his skull for a moment to get the tune out of there- and then pauses as he sees Swoop. "Hn. What happen you Swoop?" he asks, tromping over to give the flyer a none-too-gentle *POKE!* in the shoulder. "Me Grimlock find medic! Make fix!" Foxfire happens to meander into the med bay at this moment, smirking at Grimlock's comment. "Not MY fault that my fox song is catchy!" The little Junkion rubs at her optics. "Ohh... err... well. I suppose..." She picks up a couple of tool . "Okay. Let me see. " She scans Swoop generally with her tricorder. Dee-Kal pulls out a medical scanner and runs a check on Swoop. Punch is also lying on a table. But he looks worse than crap. He is missing his left arm entirely and his head is crudely stapled on. There is also a large "DO NOT RESUSCITATE" sign on his medbay bed. He is propped in a sitting position though, and with his working arm, is slowly working through reports on data pads Dee-Kal moves to scan Punch, also. "Triage. H'm..." Dee-Kal pulls out a medical scanner and runs a check on Punch. Dee-Kal checks her scan results and it's obvious that Punch comes before Swoop. Grimlock points at Dee-Kal. "You! Junk-femme! You fix him Swoop! Him Swoop more 'portant than...me Grimlock not even know who that is!" he peers at Punch. "Him yellow guy NEVER DO ANYTHINGS!" he decrees, and gives a grint. "Ouch," Swoop croaks as Grimlock brutally stabs him in the shoulder. "Tried saving Jumper guy. Got in to fight with Onslaught," he explains. Then he adds, "Gave him hell." Dee-Kal does a scan of Nightbeat as well, for the sake of it. Might as well be thorough. Red Alert accompanies Nightbeat into the medical bay, datapad in one hand. As usual, he is grumbling. "What I /don't/ understand is why you've taken this long to take care of this. You'd /think/ you'd want the issue settled sooner." He doesn't even look up from his datapad as he enters - he already knew the Dinobots were in here - but he does take a moment to stop by Punch's berth and pick up his sign. "What's this for?" he asks the Intelligence agent. Dee-Kal pulls out a medical scanner and runs a check on Nightbeat. Dee-Kal h'mphs to herself. Nightbeat comments dryly from the door, "Punch does an awful lot, Grimlock. An awful lot to annoy me." He glares over at Red Alert and insists, "Hey, I have a job to do, too! I keep getting side railed by crazy blue car Decepticons and charity work and Cliffjumper getting kidnapped!" He gazes over at Foxfire and asks, "You got the evidence? I want this over, finished." Dee-Kal investigates Punch first, without doing anything yet. Lynx notices the activity.. so much for the quiet medical bay. He pushes himself up into a sitting stance, ooing a little as he does. "..a bit snappy today-- are you not Nightbeat?" Lynx speaks up, his red optics flickering. Foxfire comes over to Swoop's table and rears up onto his hind legs to get a better look. "I *hope* you gave him hell. Looks like he had the same intent..." At Nightbeat's words, he drops back down to all fours. "Yeah, I got it. Hang on." He opens up one of his hip compartments and removes the Seeker wingtip. Clutching it in his jaws, he approaches Nightbeat and Red Alert and offers it to them. "Just in case" Punch mutters to Red Alert, glaring at Nightbeat with an 'I'm watching you' look. "I'm busy Red Alert, this circus better be worth interrupting my repair time for" Nightbeat grins widely and replies to Sky Lynx, unashamed, "Just my usual lovely personality, catbird." He moves over to one of the less-used medical cabinets, punching in the lock code. Pulling out some equipment, he places a tray on the floor so that Foxfire can place the wingtip there. To Punch, he notes mildly, "If there was another place I could get my hands on a mass spectroscope, d'ya really think I'd be here?" Red Alert's head snaps in Dee-Kal's direction, and he frowns faintly, but then returns his focus to Punch. However, he /first/ accepts the wingtip from Foxfire, examining it with interest. "And /when/ did you obtain this?" he asks Foxfire before looking back at Punch. "'Circus'? I asked you a question. I'm here to oversee the forensics work - it needn't interfere with your repairs." "Me glad you here," Swoop chirrups. "Watching you and Red 'Lert better than talking to him Punch." He sends a look over to the yellow robot and then whispers, "He bad talker." Lynx hisses softly, "Its Sky Lynx-- not catbird.. or dino-bird." Rumbles softly, "Get it right for bloody sake." He sighs softly and shakes his head a little, "Oh the youth has forgotten respects.." Dee-Kal decides. "Mander Grimlock, I am a medic, not one of your troops. Please let me think." "Stabalize Punch, repair Swoop, finish repairs on Punch," Red Alert recites out loud, tone a bit put-upon. Foxfire places the wingtip on the tray and takes a step back. He shrugs as best as a quadruped can. "When I was with Nightbeat on Cybertron, in the Razor Hills. We came across a bunch of Seekers and he got this from one of 'em." "Every thing that happens concerns me" Punch retorts, coughing slightly, letting some fluid dribble from his mouth, a spark starting on his heavily damaged neck. "Especially when security is at /risk/" He stares at Foxfire when he says this Dee-Kal nods to herself. "Hai. I will work a little on Punch-sama. TO stabilise. Then will fix Swoop ready for active service. then resume on Punch. Hah. Yes." "Why you Nightbeat need mass spec...spectro...why you need thing?" Grimlock asks. "Just have him Perceptor look at stuffs! Him Perceptor do lots science stuff! Like, uuuh...like fix Swoop!" he grunts, and hmms, tapping at his radio... Grimlock says, "WHERE HIM PERCEPTOR?" Foxfire turns toward Punch, raising an optic ridge. "You trying to imply something?" Nightbeat comments roguishly, "Youth? Sky Lynx, I'm old enough to know better," and politically incorrect enough to not care. The detective is pretty old, really. Nightbeat snaps a pear of rubber gloves on over his black hands and gingerly picks up the tray, placing it on a table. "I wrote a report on it, yannow. Thanks, Foxfire." To Grimlock, Nightbeat insists, stridently, "This is detective-work, not scientist-work!" Dee-Kal looks up. "Arigato, Grimlock. Thank you." She starts work on Punch, to sort out his injuries. Sky Lynx says, "Grimlock-- learn a please and perhaps he will come." Grimlock says, "Hnnn." Red Alert says, "Grimlock, we already have subject matter experts on hand, and Perceptor /does/ have Grimlock says, "Hrrrn." Dee-Kal contemplates a few things and then hooks Punch up to an artificial life support machine - yes, artificial life support for artificial lifeforms. whatever next..? Punch coughs a bit louder as Dee-Kal works on his injuries. "I would prefer if someone not Nightbeat investigated" he growls in the direction of Red Alert. "He is still under suspicion for /space bridge sabotage/ remember?" Lynx was very willing to challenge the age ordeal, that was the fun part of being a guardian of cybertron, however-- he didn't even really know his full age because of the between age of.. no logical processor and having one. He then looks over to Dee-kal, before his sight roams to the others. The Sky unit slowly awakes with yawn, before it sits up with a purrish sound. The optical band flickering softly, which shortly after the Lynx's own optics flicker. Perhaps they were having a conversation or-- resyncing? Whatever was going on, it was Sky Lynx and his oddities. Dee-Kal pats Punch's right shoulder. "Please do not fear. I need to *disconnect* your head. You are connected up to support to be healthy while I smurf your body. I may do..?" Foxfire snorts. "I thought we already established that Nightbeat was innocent. Keep your commentary to yourself, Punch." Punch swats a hand in the direction of Dee-Kal. "No!" he glares. "You may NOT. Do it without disconnecting my /head/" Nightbeat explains, as if this is obvious, "Scientists sometimes use detective tools, because detective tools are just that good." Biased, much? To Punch, he says, almost smirking, "Kup himself said I could do this analysis, provided that someone trustworthy - like ol' Red Alert here - watches to make sure I ain't up to any sleight of hand. Y'wanna argue with Kup? Good luck." Dee-Kal smiles. Punch nods, his neck cracking painfully. "Then I will watch too. And stay online as I do it" Foxfire snickers. "Only a fool would argue with Kup. He's a tough old mech." Dee-Kal frowns slightly. "Well, okay, if that is your wish. But it will take longer..!" Red Alert winces at the shouting, though it would only be noticed if one were looking closely, then nods to Dee-Kal. "Thank you, Dee-Kal." Then he turns towards Punch. "Punch, that's why I'm on-hand to oversee the investigation. Kup has cleared him to do the work with appropriate oversight, and I can't think of any oversight more approriate than myself." He glances back at Nightbeat, frowns, then looks at Punch. He mouths at Punch without saying, or even whispering 'If he's not given the opportunity to try something, he won't. But if he's given the chance, he may, and I'll be watching.' "Uuuuh. Then why him Perceptor turn into science thing, and you Nightbeat just car?" he asks. Grimlock's logic is straightforward and blunt- just like him! He then hmms, and looks over at Punch. "You Punch stop talky!" he points. Swoop points at Punch too, just because everyone else seems to be doing it. "Yeah! Stop talking! Loo-ser~" Lynx looks over to Grimlock, "Because Perceptor is a scientist-- and Nightbeat is a detective. Scientist build things-- like you and Detectives looking into clues." Nightbeat sets his armful of science tools on the table, next to the tray with the part. He hisses, "The Porsche is not *just* a car! It's a fine example of good, solid German engineering." Selecting a clean, sharp scalpel, he sections off a tiny fraction of the wingtip and puts it into a vial with a pair of tweezers. Nightbeat holds it up to the light, considering it. Punch stops talking and simply scowls, with an "I'm watching you" look in the direction of Nightbeat. "Make it so" he mutters to Dee-Kal. Foxfire heads over to a corner of the med bay and lays down. When Nightbeat starts working, Red Alert turns and approaches the table he's using. He watches the Detective very closely, and can occasionally be heard to sniff faintly at the air. Dee-Kal has a quick hunt, and finds a neck brace. "Maybe if I smurf like so... and like this... and so..." She fiddles and tinkers away on Punch, fitting the neck brace, which also cradles the back of his head as-is, concealing any secrets from general view. She continues to work busily... Grimlock hnns, and peers over Nightbeat's shoulder at the tools. "Am Ger-man good detek-tive?" he asks- and hmms. "That little thing too small! You need SWORD, like me Grimlock!" and with that, he pulls his Energo-Sword out with a *Vrrrm!* Because, face it, if you had such a sword, you'd wave it around at every occasion, too! Foxfire murmurs to himself, "I wish I had a sword..." Lynx rumbles softly and walks over to Foxfire, though he does limp slightly as he walks, "Foxfire.." He says softly, "It is good to see you chap.." Foxfire lifts his head, ears perked. He nods. "Likewise. How are you holding up, Sky Lynx?" Nightbeat explains, "See, mass spectroscopy is very sensitive - don't need much to get a lot of data out. Red Alert, if you'd pull up Penumbra's results?" Nightbeat sets up the mass spectroscope on the table. "What this does is break apart and ionise chemicals, and then shoots them in a beam. It uses a magnet to seperate the chemical fragments by mass, and then it detects where they hit a screen. If you get peaks in certain places, it means there's a certain chemical or element in the mix." Nightbeat is surprisingly good with technology, given how old-fashioned he can be. To Grimlock, he recites an old cliche, "Ain't the size - it's how you use it." Punch can now no longer move his head, and tries to push himself up to watch Nightbeat. "What's he doing? What's he doing?" he asks Deek "An' me Grimlock use it for choppin' stuff." he responds- and then puts his sword away again. Dee-Kal cunningly detaches Punch's head from his shoulders. And yet she follows the feisty Autobot's request - his head is still on top of his shoulders, and so are several connections that are undamaged. Dee-Kal says, "Ohh, Mander Grimlock is just swinging his sword to show off." Red Alert sighs heavily. "Grimlock, please. The sword is appropriate for the battlefield, but other tools work better for something like this." He rubs the bridge of his nose, but still keeps his eyes on Nightbeat's work. That is, until he's asked to pull up some results. He leans over to the nearest terminal, types in a command, a security code, another security code, a third, time-sensitive security code, and then another command and brings up the previous results. However, he keeps the screen turned away from Nightbeat. "If you'd please, I'd prefer that you do your analysis seperately, and then /I/ will have the results compared." "Not bad." Lynx explains as he looks down at the smaller primative. "I fear Shockwave about did me in that time around." Sighs softly, "Such an annoyance really, that out of all the decepticons I can't seem to get a bloody upper hand on him." He growls softly as his ears go flat. "..perhaps next time.." Dee-Kal nods to Wall-E, her 'where did he come from?' gumby, who finds the various tubes, wires and mecha ganglia to replace th e ones that are beyond repair. A small frown crosses Foxfire's muzzle. "Shockwave isn't an opponent to be reckoned with. I know you're powerful, Sky Lynx, but there are some Decepticons even you can't beat. You okay, though?" Nightbeat replies to Red Alert, almost sounding agreeable, "Yeah, yeah. Sure thing." He slots the vial into the mass spectroscope, and there is a /shunk/ as the sample is loaded and broken down into itty-bitty ions. There is a then a /vrrm/ as the ions are shot out in a beam and crashed into the screen. At the mention of Shockwave, Nightbeat opines, "Shockwave can go stuff himself. Screwy lightbulb-face." Dee-Kal hums to herself as she starts work, fiddling and tweaking as one does. She takes out some of the mucky tubes and old connections in order to clean up and prep before replacement. Lynx growls softly as he is told that, however he seems to shake it off. Though the sky half over in the corner seems a little put-off still by it. "I will be fine." Lynx states with a soft purr. "It takes more then that to keep me down for long. After all-- I have felt worse, haha." Punch is now a detatched head. He still looks grump "Me Grimlock could stuff him Shockwave." the dinocommander notes- partly to be helpful, and partly because he's got no clue what Nightbeat's doing. "Like...into a box. Then me throw that box into THE OCEAN!" he nodnods. "Him Big Grim bestest box thrower!" Swoop shouts. Dee-Kal disconnects Punch's windpipe for a few seconds in order to access other tubes around and behind it... Punch can only make an 'argle argle argle' noise as Dee-Kal cuts his throat! Sky unit looks over to Grimlock, "..if I could beat you-- then I /love/ to know how you can beat Shockwave." The draconic bird says sarcasticly with all the dry accent he can muster, even in his drowsy state. Lynx lets out yawn, before shaking his body. He notices a small ball behind a table leg. He reaches over to it with his massive paw and then rolls it gently over to Foxfire. Foxfire glances over to Nightbeat, smirks, and looks back to the lynx. "Nightbeat's right, you know." He ponders Grimlock's remark for a moment. "How about you disassemble him and *then* stuff him into the box? A really small box." He perks as he spots the ball. He pounces it, lays back down, then nudges it with his nose, sending it back to Lynx. Dee-Kal does no such thing! ^-^ Although, perhaps a little unfairly, Grimlock gets his wish for a little while... Red Alert doesn't look up or away from what Nightbeat is doing. However, he does still ask, "Dee-Kal, just what /are/ you doing back there?" Grimlock, reminded of his ignomious Olympic defeat(s), just glares at Sky Lynx. "Me Grimlock beat him Shockwave before! Me can do it 'gain! It not hard!" he nodnods. "When him Shockwave try get human beans, me Grimlock punch him and throw him into ocean!" Lynx watches the ball come back to him, he cants his head, then nudges it back to Foxfire gently with his paw. Nightbeat is looking at the spectroscope's results, but he says, rather uncaring. "Sounds like she just disconnected Punch's throat." He taps a results screen on the spectroscope and explains, "See these peaks? This one corresponds to titanium white - a *lot* of this in here. Not lead white. See, Titanium is lighter than lead. better for aircraft applications. Then over here," he points to a lower peak, "cerulean blue. White and blue make a lighter blue, trace components aside. An ice blue." Certainly not Nightbeat's own bright blue. Dee-Kal cleans up the underside of Punch's head, and inside the neck, then starts carefully replacing the various tubes, energon feed lines steel tendons and suchlike with small fingers and dainty tools. Dee-Kal smiles. A news-reporter speaks up over the channels, "This just in a.. unknown White tank and sighted in paris france-- they seem to be attacking the Eiffle Tower." A momentary pause in the transmission, "Take that back-- The jet just transformed into a robot. We believe it to be one of the Decepticons own, however we are unsure and we do not know what they want with the Eiffle Tower... Now we take you to the weather!" "Oh, is that all," Red Alert murmurs, then says louder, "See that his throat's reconnected shortly." This is all still without actually looking away from Nightbeat's work. He leans forward, examining the peaks that Nightbeat refers to, and nods. "Well, you /did/ say you got it from a Seeker." Then, he looks back at the monitor he called up, though he still stands in such a way as to block it from Nightbeat's view. He may have enhanced senses, but x-rays are not among them. Foxfire snatches the ball in his jaws and looks up. "Finding anything, Nightbeat?" he asks, voice slightly muffled. He spits the ball out, letting it roll to Lynx again. Red Alert sighs, still not looking up, as the radio announces itself. "Grimlock, are you available to investigate whatever's going on in Paris?" Grimlock grunts at Red Alert. "Me Vestigate! Me be BETTERER DETEKTIVE than him Nightbeat!" he decrees- "'sides, it boring here anyway! Me go now!" and off he does! Grimlock leaves to the Main Lobby - First Floor to the north. Grimlock has left. Dee-Kal glances at the life support machine every fifteen seconds without fail as she works. She listens to the report from Earth's news as well, about the Decepticon - or presumed Con, in Paris. What would they want with the Eiffel tower..? Matrix alone knows... Nightbeat points out, "Yeah, I *did* get it from a Seeker, and Foxfire can corroborate that. Foxfire's got no reason to look out for me." He glares daggers at Grimlock as the arrogant lizard leaves. Rubbing his face, he gestures to the peaks again and asks Red Alert, "Well, do they match Penumbra's data? You get a lot of blue Seekers - midnight blue, grey-blue, sky blue... but not so many ice blue ones. And really not a lot of pastel yellow ones." He pauses at the idea of the Eiffel Tower being stolen, and he thinks about it for a moment. Hmm! Lynx hears the radio as well and grumbles softly, "..I did hear anything over the Decepticon channels about this-- must be using another frequency." He then pushes the ball back toward Foxfire. Foxfire stops the ball under his paw. "That Seeker smelled exactly like the paint Penumbra and I found at the spacebridge. His color scheme matched, too. I have little doubt that he's the real culprit." He bats the ball to Lynx. "They occasionally operate solo, or under standing orders to 'cause chaos,'" Red Alert points out, voice worn. "Either way, it's something that needs to be looked into." He looks up at Nightbeat's results and murmurs, "You didn't mention pastel yellow before now..." and then he frowns, almost disappointed. "But yes. Yes, they do match Penumbra's results." Lynx bats it back. Rumbling again, "..still odd that the decepticons didn't report.." Lynx then looks to Red Alert, "Red, did you hear the decepticons speak on this? Or-- do you think it is just two grunt trouble makers?" Nightbeat taps the tray with a gloved hand and excuses, "Just got a wingtip. No pastel yellow on it." Unfortunate, that. "It was difficult enough to get anything off him. By the principle of contact exchange, then this Seeker was at the scene. And I was not. That a valid conclusion?" Nightbeat peers over at Red Alert expectantly. To Sky Lynx, he excuses, "The Decepticons are bunch of two-bit hooligans. Grimlock'll pound 'em into shape." "I don't have enough information to make any assumptions at all, Sky Lynx," Red Alert replies, suggesting that no, he hasn't heard anything from the Decepticons directly. "It could be that, it could be that they've arranged things entirely through voice or internal systems, it could be... something else entirely." He nods to Nightbeat. "It seems a valid conclusion, although I'd point out that there were a lot of Seekers at the scene, anyway, doing work with the building." Dee-Kal reconnects all the required points bar one. Punch's windpipe is last to be reconnected. She uses a little vacuum to clear out the gunk carefully, not damaging any other part of him in doing so... and only then does she reconnect. Now he can breathe and speak without coughing while she fixes up the rest of his neck. Lynx hrms softly, "..I think I've been around you to long Red Alert-- your paranoia has rubbed off on me." The feline says with a playful tone. "Caution can never be overused, Sky Lynx," Red Alert reminds primly. Dee-Kal says, "Mander Lynx.. Mander Sky..?" Dee-Kal glances at the life support for Punch (who actually doesn't need it, but it pays to be safe) and then glances at the two halves to Sky Lynx as she speaks. Nightbeat sighs and points out, "We can't just call up 'ol Blinky and ask him if this Seeker was assigned to the spacebridge project. Fact is, when Penumbra took Foxfire out, Foxfire smelled this Seeker at the scene, right where the damage was done. Fact is, whoever did the damage never hit the bottom of the crater when he jumped. I can't fly. Seekers can. Fact is, I ran into this Seeker on XXX right before I got framed, an' maybe I said something to piss him off." Nightbeat, offensive? Never! "All right, Nightbeat," Red Alert says coolly, arms crossed. "And now that you have all these facts, what do you intend to do with them? I will report your results to Kup, but as you yourself noted, the Decepticons are unlikely to co-operate on any investigation." Nightbeat shrugs, "If I run into the guy, I'll attempt to subdue and capture him, same as any Decepticon. Can't do much more than that. I got more important duties than satisfying my own personal vendettas. I would hope that Kup would see fit to get this ankle monitor off me, though, and let me get back to balancing Blaster's books." Because if Kup won't take it off? Nightbeat's going to trick Mishap into teaching him how to pick locks. He loathes that ankle monitor so much. Lynx then takes Foxfire's paw and purrs at the small primative, before he walks off with the ball, before popping out, he then pops it a few times on his snout, even as he limps to keep it under him, then with a grunt, he gives it a good hit. The ball hits the ceiling, and then heads right for Foxfire, as Lynx yells to Foxfire, "Think fast!" Foxfire attempts to stifle a snicker. "D'you still have Raindance attached to you?" He blinks as Lynx takes his paw, then jumps up to his feet as the ball comes right for him. He practically leaps upward, firmly snatching it in his jaws. "Cheap shot!" Dee-Kal finishes fixing Punch's neck, reattaches his head as good as ever it was. She removes the neck brace. "H'mph." Nightbeat makes a face and crosses his arms. "Raindance is off livin' a reporter's exciting lifestyle in Jamaica, Foxfire. The ankle monitor's just a normal ankle monitor now." One that went into a blackout zone for a while yesterday. "As I said," Red Alert repeats, "I will bring the results to Kup, and the decision is his." Then he raises his free hand, the one not holding a datapad, and points a finger at Nightbeat. "But you are /reminded/ to stay out of radio deadzones while wearing it. I was /not/ pleased when your signal cut out last night, and you are /fortunate/ that Ultra Magnus's report clears your actions in the time frame." The frown etched into Red Alert's expression remains irritated, however. Nightbeat's hands clench, and he protests, "I had *orders* from Ultra Magnus to be on that mission! What was I supposed to, get tossed in the brig by defying the boss's orders? I didn't even know he was taking me into a radio deadzone, an' neither did he. We had no idea where Cyclonus would take Cliffjumper. Crazy Decepticon." Nightbeat sniffs. Dee-Kal pulls out a medical scanner and runs a check on Swoop. "Didn't I just /say/ that you were cleared for last night," Red Alert answers, tone prim, although he sounds as though he's loathe to admit what he's saying. Then, suddenly, he glances first towards the exit, then at Dee-Kal, then back at the readings. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to record your results." Lynx chuckles toward Foxfire and sits there with a smile on his muzzle and a soft purr. Nightbeat keeps his arms crossed, and snarls, "You'll haveta excuse me for bein' a bit defensive. This is my head on the line that we're talking about, here." He picks up the tray and sets it back on the floor for Foxfire. Then, he moves to put away the borrowed tools. Red Alert frowns as Nightbeat sets the tray on the floor. "Nightbeat. Why are you putting the evidence on the floor?" Nightbeat blinks his optic band and explains, as if it is obvious, "So Foxfire can keep track of it. Y'wouldn't want it in my hands, would you? I could tamper with it." See, isn't Nightbeat so honest and upfront about how he could be deceptive? "Yes, but since when is Foxfire proper storage for crime-scene evidence," Red Alert replies while saving the files. He frowns down at Foxfire suspiciously. Red Alert is always suspicious of the Fox. Nightbeat throws his hands, still covered in rubber gloves, in the air, and he cedes, "Fine! Put the wingtip wherever you want!" He'll see that Foxfire gets to keep it once it's done being evidence, which is in no way bribery. Cough. Dee-Kal does not repair Punch's arm. That will be for later. She promised to fix Swoop's wings and so she does. It's a lot easier than fixing necks, and more like a hobby. She wonders. "Is that wing tip surplus to requirement, Master Nightbeat..?" Foxfire snorts at Red Alert. "Just admit that you don't trust me. You don't trust *anyone*, do you?" He slips around to get behind Nightbeat's legs, much like affectionate cat. "It has to remain in approved storage until the investigation is declared a closed case," Red Alert reminds both Nightbeat and Foxfire. He shuts down his monitor, then kneels and picks up the tray. He frowns rather suddenly, and intense FROWNY frown, then stands back up. +ooc It's because we're really similar, Swoop, so the differences grate hard. Dee-Kal says, "If it is not needed, it could be useful here." "Dee-Kal, this is still evidence. We'll decide what can be done with it /after/ the case is closed." And then he moves over to a storage cabinet and unlocks it. Nightbeat tilts his head to one side, wondering why Red Alert is frowning that much. That's at least 37% more frowny than Red Alert's usual frowns. Yikes. Foxfire shudders a little and inches closer to Nightbeat. At this rate, Red's frown could probably match Andi's "Mommy Glare". Dee-Kal isn't affected. There are only two folks' frowns that affect her. one is her Mom. The other... you don't want to know. the young Junkion knows when to keep it shushed, though, and hushes. Sky Lynx has disconnected. Red Alert isn't actually frowning at anyone here. He does tend to react to things that aren't immediately obvious, after all. Investigation complete and evidence /safely/ locked away, Red Alert walks over to where Punch is laying about lazily, using the fact that he's in several pieces to stay out of work. "Were you able to see anything?" He doesn't bother whispering. Nightbeat is right /there/. Nightbeat could hear it if they whispered it the town over, baby. He wanders over to the hazard disposal system, strips off his gloves, and chucks them in the hazard bin, where they will be safely incinerated. He doesn't look too interested in the discussion, though. He knows he's innocent. He can rest easily at night. Can Punch say the same, shooting at cars like he does? "No" Punch mumbles from his repair bay. "But that means /nothing/" Red Alert inclines his head, partly in acknowledgement, partly in agreement. "Either way, the report must be made." And then he looks around the room, "And I've got quite a lot to occupy myself with." Like the fact that even the /Decepticons/ don't know who the Decepticons attacking the Eiffle Tower are. Nightbeat's two worst critics can't find anything majorly wrong with his procedures for the day! This is a triumph, make no mistake. Leaning against a wall lazily, he drawls, "I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said about me, Punch." Red Alert's frowny-frown has faded to a normal level frown, and it is with that painting his expression that he leaves the room, datapad in hand. Red Alert leaves to the Main Lobby - First Floor to the north. Red Alert has left. Dee-Kal shrugs. And continues to fiddle and fix Swoop's wings. Swoop squawks every now and then to show his displeasure in having his broken wings prodded and fiddled with. Dee-Kal tells him to hush up and deactivates his wing's pain receptors. "Aaaghh! Me Swoop can't feel wiiinnnngggsss!" He begins to flail around. Dee-Kal sets down her tools and steps back, arms folded. Swoop scoffs. "Wings can wait. Need /this/ repaired first!" In order to show her what 'this' is, he transforms into his alternate mode and, well, it's kind of obvious. He doesn't have a head. He is minus one head. It's just a neck and half a crest. Swoop turns into a flying dinosaur! Grimlock says, "Me...Grimlock...hnsnsn." Grimlock says, "Me Grimlock...erm...me..." Grimlock says, "Me Grimlock!" Grimlock then adds on, in a quieter, almost embarassed sort of voice. "...me need help." Dee-Kal says, "Mander Grimlock said to fix. If you act up, I cannot fix." She pauses, looks up." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "What is the problem?" Red Alert says, "I can assist, but if it's enough to overwhelm you, Grimlock, I doubt I can do much. On the other hand, I could bring the shuttle." Grimlock says, "Hn. Not fighting! Me Grimlock totally fight all thems and win 'cuz me Grimlock strongest one there is!" Grimlock says, "Just...me Grimlock need hold stupid tower from fall down, so me no get fight!" Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "What do you need, Mander... commander... Grimlock..?" Red Alert says, "... Oh. I think I could do that with the shuttle. On my way." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "There is a tower to stop from falling down? Okay... Oh, hee. Red will do?" Dee-Kal gets out her tinsnips and starts to create a dino-bird head from sheet metal... Dee-Kal holo look Nightbeat leans against a wall, looking disreputable. Robot Pteranodon is still a pterasaur with only a neck. Sky Lynx has connected. Sky Lynx says, "What is going on in Paris?" Red Alert says, "The battle's over. Right now I'm just waiting on the emergancy crew to get some supports into place so I can return." Sky Lynx says, "How bad was the damage?" Dee-Kal installs the pristine new replacement Swoop-dino-head atop the headless neck... Clutch says, "I'm no expert, but it looks pretty bad to me. If it wasn't for Grimlock and Red Alert with an Autobot shuttle, the whole tower might have fallen." Red Alert says, "I don't think 'might' is the word I'd use here." Autobot 'Seeker' Raptor says, "whoa-- action happened in paris and I missed it? Rats-- ah well, maybe next time." ..and decals a nice Autobot icon on the beak. Sky Lynx says, "I see, I'm glad that it didn't fall.." Clutch says, "Sorry...I like to think positive." Dee-Kal polishes Swoop's new Pterry-head, beak and crest. There. All fixed..! Sky Lynx has disconnected. Autobot Message: 3/57 Posted Author Ankle Monitor Sun Nov 09 Kup ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Audio Only:) "Alright, I'm satisfied with the investigation into this Space Bridge sabotage so far, so I'm gonna permit Nightbeat to take off his ankle monitor and clear him as a suspect. There's a 4-digit code you gotta enter on it. I'll send it to ya, along with some new orders. And Nightbeat? Don't you EVER ignore this old mech again." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kup Date: Mon Nov 10 00:04:24 2008 Folder: 0 Message: 57 Status: Read Subject: IC message ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is gonna tick you off, but too bad. I suspected almost from the beginning that it wasn't you that sabotaged that bridge. What tipped me off is when you imitated that seeker guy's walking cadence. Sounded the same that Nightbeat holo did when it walked around. So why'd I have ya runnin' around like a turbo-chickin' with its head cut off? Why'd I stick that ankle monitor on you for days and days? Well, motivation, mostly. I wanted to make sure ya had a personal reason for gettin' to the truth. Aaaand... I wasn't too happy about the way you ignored my messages to ya. Anyway. Code's 4913. Oh, and find out why that Seeker was impersonatin' you. Get to it. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------